Social Media – An Escape or a Platform of Lies?

Social Media – An Escape or a Platform of Lies?

This morning I woke up, looking flawless, kissed my husband and stepped out of bed, overjoyed to start another day. As I walked through my immaculate home, I heard my children, already dressed and ready for school, talking about how much they loved one another. I cooked them a healthy breakfast and prepared their lunches in bento boxes, with fun shapes and clever notes. I dropped them off at school, where they are star students, always get honor roll and never get in trouble. I arrived back to my home office, where my husband had already prepared my coffee in a mug with a woman-empowering saying on it and got my mom-boss on. I sipped my coffee, made reservations for our next over-the-top vacation and dreamt about how perfect my life really is. If you were to scroll through my social media accounts, that’s probably what you think my days are like. Because like most of us, I’m not telling the whole truth through my pictures and posts. I’m only telling half of the story.

When’s the last time you were completely honest on social media? I’m not talking about your political views, how much your kids mean to you or telling everyone how much you enjoyed your last meal… I’m talking about being honest about your everyday life. I hate to tell you this, but there’s a 99% chance that social media has made you into a liar. Or, at the very least, someone who omits much of the truth.

Social media has become a place where we show off the good and leave out the heartache, the mess and the struggles. We post pictures of our beautiful kids, our perfect homes and our fancy vacations but in reality, behind the scenes, there is so much you don’t see. The other side of our home is a mess, our kids never listen and we are yelling more than we’d care to admit. To the outside world, we are living the perfect life. We can custom design how we want people to think we are living, because that’s what social media has become. Likes and views have become our validation.

When we get in front of the camera, we are smiling, laughing and having the time of our lives. But there are days when we feel sad and nothing can go right, no matter what we do. Our kids won’t listen, our home is a mess, we are behind on our bills and we may even be having marital problems. No matter how tough life gets, we still go out of our way to show everyone how perfect we want them to think we really are. Because these days it doesn’t matter what life is really like, it matters how people think you are living.

I don’t care how much money you make, or how perfect your life may seem, none of us are as perfect as we portray through social media. Our lives are chaotic, we have issues and the majority of us just don’t talk about them. We’ve learned to manipulate angles to make ourselves and our home look better than they really are. We live to pretend.

Social media will never change because it’s our escape. The fact is, we don’t want to read about people’s marital problems, or see pictures of their messy homes. We want to see the fantasy of how our lives could be. Sadly, social media has given us a platform to create an image that we can probably never attain. It’s more about who is living the better life, or who can put on the best show.

So what does our future look like if we keep going on like this? I think first, we need to stop living online and start living our lives. Put the phone down. Don’t worry about how many likes or views you get, but instead, enjoy the moment. Don’t be afraid to talk about your problems with those you love and trust. They won’t think less of you. In fact, you may find that they need to talk about something as well. Keeping things bottled up and pretending all the time is not going to make your life better. Living your life and enjoying what you do have, will.

What are your feelings on social media? Comment below and let me know!

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Article Comments

Eric kay10/10/2018 5:29 pm

I see so many people, including my wife struggle with social media jealousy. it’s hard not to be jealous sometimes though.

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stacey10/04/2018 4:30 pm

This made me smirk because I was telling someone this a few days ago. I saw a friends post about how much she was in love with her hubby, knowing we all know they aren’t happy at all.

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Becca Wilson10/04/2018 3:31 pm

Social media is definitely not a full portrayal of someone’s life. So many of us want to only share our really great moments – but everyone has those down moments.

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Trina10/04/2018 9:14 am

I have a love-hate relationship with social media. As a homebody and introvert, I love being able to keep up with friends and family without having to put on pants lol. But as an adult I find myself trying to keep up with the Jones’ so to speak because everyone’s house, family, and marriage seems so perfect through a screen, and then all of a sudden you hear so and so lost their home or, so and so is getting a divorce and its a wake up call about how fake social media can be.

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Chin chin10/04/2018 12:19 am

I don’t share a lot on my social media accounts, but when I do I make sure it’s the truth. There are a lot of fake news out there already.

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Dr. K. Lee Banks10/03/2018 10:08 pm

I think we all need to be cautious and exercise wisdom with how much we share on social media. The Internet has a long memory and even things we think we have deleted can be accessed by those who are technically savvy and who have nefarious intentions. I certainly believe in being honest, but not necessarily airing all our “dirty laundry,” sharing too much personal information, OR pretending we’re something we’re not (perfect). I read another blog post earlier today about the “imposter” syndrome online and I think that certainly fits the way some people behave.

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Sundeep10/03/2018 2:57 am

For me its like 50-50 sometimes it looks fake, sometimes it looks real. We are totally hooked on to your blog. No wonder we are coming back again and again for more info.

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Ty @ TravelTasTily10/02/2018 10:35 pm

I use to love social media but I got tired of reading everyone’s perfect life and all of the quotes people know they don’t follow.

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adriana10/02/2018 8:54 pm

This is such a great read! There really are so many impacts of social media both positive and negative. So important to try and find a happy medium!

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K.A. Wypych10/02/2018 6:54 pm

Love this! I wish we could all be vulnerable enough to show our true selves!

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Heather10/02/2018 6:21 pm

I totally agree! Social media can be so disheartening because everyone looks so perfect and happy, but no one (myself included) is signing up to be the one to show what reality is like!

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Sara Welch10/02/2018 2:47 pm

There really are two sides to the coin. It is a great tool when used correctly by everyone!

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;aura dove10/02/2018 12:43 pm

I think social media has negatives and postives. I love to scroll through my feed and see beautiful pictures, but I also know that it just a snippet of someones life. We are all guilty of sharing the highlights.

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Christa10/02/2018 11:44 am

The thing I love about social media is how much we can customize our experience. I choose who I see in my feed, and I choose people who are honest and add value to my life.

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Nancy at Whispered Inspirations10/02/2018 11:04 am

I think social media is what you make it. I choose to use it as a platform to share my life, the beautiful parts of life… I do step away whenever I can to enjoy life in the moment.

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Lynndee10/02/2018 11:01 am

There is no such thing as a perfect life. All of us have our ups and downs, have our own problems or issues to deal with everyday. For me, you don’t have to share everything for the whole world to see. And it’s not faking it either. It’s a choice that you have to make. And we all have our own choices.

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Shannan P10/02/2018 10:15 am

I think with social media you have to go into it with the idea that you have to take everything with a grain of salt and we have to teach our kids the same thing. I recently had a conversation with my kids about the YouTubers that they watch and how much of what they do is simply for the camera. You just have to try to keep perspective.

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Ruth I10/02/2018 10:12 am

I agree with some points. I honestly don’t post much about my life on social media. But I appreciate those who share their lives as I get some encouragement from their achievements.

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Ashley10/02/2018 9:56 am

I think it is both. Depending on who it is and what they are saying lol

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Lisa Favre10/02/2018 7:39 am

I think it’s a good way to escape and read about happy things: people’s achievements, accomplishments, etc. So long as we don’t start comparing ourselves to others (which can be hard not to do sometimes!), we’re good!

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Justine10/02/2018 1:39 am

I definitely think this is an interesting perspective. For sure I agree that we should put our phones down more and live life. However, I don’t necessarily think it’s lying to not share everything online. I do think if we outright say “everything is perfect and wonderful and this and that” and it’s not then yes, that’s lying. But I view social media as a way to spread good in the world and I don’t think there’s anything wrong with being mindful of the things we do and don’t share, you know? I definitely loved your thoughts on this though!

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cathy mini10/02/2018 12:51 am

social medias is one of the best to express our lives specially to the person far away to us..

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Marissa10/01/2018 9:53 pm

I definitely agree, even though it’s my job to be on social media it can be hard mentally sometimes!

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Tom10/01/2018 4:07 pm

It’s only natural to show off your achievements every now and then, but if done on social then your platform can quickly appear to be a stage for you to boast! Even if you are genuinely wanting to just share some joy!

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Jessica Taylor10/01/2018 1:15 pm

I totally agree. Social media has a way of portraying everyone as perfect!

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Brittany Vantrease10/01/2018 1:15 pm

I don’t think everyone on social media is false. I’ve seen plenty of people talk about their heartbreaks, frustrations, and troubles. A lot of my friends ask for prayer and I do that too. These people, after all are my friends, my family, and my church family, why would we want to lie to each other?

I’m not saying they are 100% false, I’m saying that most people don’t show the whole story.

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Amanda10/01/2018 11:51 am

I definitely struggle with this. I feel so refreshed when I take time off of Instagram, but at the same time I love connecting with people and making great relationships thanks to platforms like Instagram.

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Crystal10/01/2018 11:31 am

Honestly if I didn’t blog I wouldn’t even bother being on social media. I use it for business and networking but am looking forward to the day when I will no longer need it! I know it’s nice to stay in touch with other people but honestly I just have enough stuff in my own family to take care of!

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Monidipa Dutta10/01/2018 11:04 am

Social media enhances our connectivity. … Research presented in the journal The British Psychological Society found that students who experience low self-esteem can take advantage of social media and its capability to bond them with others in order to pull themselves up from slumps in their mood.

Yes, but it’s also stopping them from trying to make real world connections and living their lives. I’ve seen that in my kids. Moderation is key.

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Lou10/01/2018 10:33 am

Social media is a bit of both for me. But, too much of it gives me crazy anxiety, the feeling of I’m not doing enough seeing everyone posting these beautiful pictures of themselves always doing fun things, so I give myself breaks from it often.

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BIO

Launched in March of 2017, The Super Mom Life
focuses on subjects that parents can relate to
including parenting, food, fashion, travel and living with anxiety. Mom is a degree-holding graphic designer,
photographer + marketing professional, focusing
on social media and how it can save brands
money while expanding their reach. She also enjoys working with blogger hopefuls who want to turn their passion into a career.